Purpose: To evaluate efficacy and safety of epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel and trastuzumab as neoadjuvant treatment in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–overexpressing breast cancer. Patients and Methods: Patients with centrally confirmed HER2-overexpressing breast cancer (≥ 2 cm or inflammatory) received four 3-week cycles epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (90/600 mg/m²) followed by four 3-week cycles paclitaxel (175 mg/m²) and trastuzumab (6 mg/kg) before surgery. Trastuzumab was continued after surgery to complete 1 year of treatment. Primary end point was pathologic complete response (pCR) defined as no residual invasive tumor in breast and lymphatic tissue. Results: Thirty-nine percent of 217 enrolled patients achieved a pCR. Breast conservation was possible in 64% of patients. Three-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 88% in patients with pCR compared to 73% in patients without pCR (P = .01). Three-year overall survival (OS) was 96% in patients with pCR compared to 86% in patients without pCR (P = .025). pCR was the only significant prognostic factor for DFS (hazard ratio [HR] 2.5; 95% CI, 1.2 to 5.1; P = .013) and OS (HR, 4.9; 95% CI, 1.4 to 17.4; P = .012) in multivariable analysis. Cardiac toxicity was reported in eight patients (3.7%) of whom six presented with an asymptomatic left ventricular ejection fraction decrease and two with symptomatic chronic heart failure. Conclusion: Neoadjuvant combination of trastuzumab and chemotherapy resulted in a high pCR rate in HER2-overexpressing primary breast cancer. Patients with a pCR after neoadjuvant anti-HER2 therapy in combination with chemotherapy followed by maintenance trastuzumab have an improved long-term outcome. Patients without a pCR had an increased risk for relapse and death.

PURPOSE: About one third of patients with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative breast cancer who have residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) will relapse. Thus, additional therapy is needed. Palbociclib is a cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitor demonstrating efficacy in the metastatic setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: PENELOPE-B ( NCT01864746 ) is a double-blind, placebo‐controlled, phase III study in women with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative primary breast cancer without a pathological complete response after taxane‐containing NACT and at high risk of relapse (clinical pathological staging-estrogen receptor grading score ≥ 3 or 2 and ypN+). Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive 13 cycles of palbociclib 125 mg once daily or placebo on days 1-21 in a 28-day cycle in addition to endocrine therapy (ET). Primary end point is invasive disease-free survival (iDFS). Final analysis was planned after 290 iDFS events with a two-sided efficacy boundary P < .0463 because of two interim analyses. RESULTS: One thousand two hundred fifty patients were randomly assigned. The median age was 49.0 years (range, 19-79), and the majority were ypN+ with Ki-67 ≤ 15%; 59.4% of patients had a clinical pathological staging-estrogen receptor grading score ≥ 3. 50.1% received aromatase inhibitor, and 33% of premenopausal women received a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone analog in addition to either tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor. After a median follow-up of 42.8 months (92% complete), 308 events were confirmed. Palbociclib did not improve iDFS versus placebo added to ET-stratified hazard ratio, 0.93 (95% repeated CI, 0.74 to 1.17) and two-sided weighted log-rank test (Cui, Hung, and Wang) P = .525. There was no difference among the subgroups. Most common related serious adverse events were infections and vascular disorders in 113 (9.1%) patients with no difference between the treatment arms. Eight fatal serious adverse events (two palbociclib and six placebo) were reported. CONCLUSION: Palbociclib for 1 year in addition to ET did not improve iDFS in women with residual invasive disease after NACT.

Neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy is a possible therapeutic approach for the treatment of locally advanced operable, primarily non-operable or inflammatory breast cancer. Neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy is an option for breast cancer patients who would require adjuvant chemotherapy otherwise based on clinical and histological examination and imaging. The use of neoadjuvant systemic therapy in operable breast cancer is currently increasing because of its advantages that include higher rates of breast conserving surgery and the possibility of measuring early in-vivo response to systemic treatment. The timing of axillary sentinel lymph node diagnosis (i.e. before or after neoadjuvant chemotherapy) is critical in that it may influence the likelihood of axillary preservation. It is not yet clear if neoadjuvant therapy might improve outcomes in certain subgroups of breast cancer patients. Neoadjuvant treatment modalities require a close collaboration between oncology professionals, including surgeons, gynecologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists and pathologists. The most important parameter for treatment success and improved overall survival is the achievement of a pathologic complete response (pCR), although the role of pCR in patients with luminal A like tumours might be less informative. Identification of patient subgroups with high pCR rates may allow less invasive surgical or radiological interventions. Patients not achieving a pCR may be candidates for postoperative clinical trials exploring novel systemic treatments.

The International Consensus Conference on the treatment of primary breast cancer takes place every two years in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The panel in St. Gallen is composed of international experts from different countries. From a German perspective, it seems reasonable to interpret the voting results in the light of AGO-recommendations and S3-guidelines for everyday practice in Germany. Consequently, a team of eight breast cancer experts, of whom two are members of the international St. Gallen panel, commented on the voting results of the St. Gallen Consensus Conference (2013). The main topics at this year's St. Gallen conference were surgical issues of the breast and axilla, radio-therapeutic and systemic treatment options, and the clinical relevance of tumour biology. The clinical utility of multigene assays for supporting individual treatment decisions was also intensively discussed.

Background: Preoperative chemotherapy is a recommended treatment of both primary operable and locally advanced breast cancer. Strategies to improve efficacy include the use of anthracyclines, taxanes, and intensified dose with bone marrow support. Patients and methods: Patients received neoadjuvant epirubicin 90 mg/m² plus cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m² followed by paclitaxel 175 mg/m² (EC→T), each 3-weekly for four cycles (n = 370), or epirubicin 150 mg/m² followed by paclitaxel 225 mg/m² with pegfilgrastim followed by CMF (cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m², methotrexate 40 mg/m², fluorouracil 600 mg/m²) on days 1 and 8 (E_dd→T_dd→CMF), each 2-weekly and for three cycles (n = 363). Patients were randomly allocated to either simultaneous darbepoetin alfa (DA) (n = 356) or none (n = 377). Results: Pathological complete response (pCR) rate (breast) was higher with E_dd→T_dd→CMF, 18.7% versus 13.2% with EC→T; P = 0.043, ypT0/Tis; ypN0 was reported in 20.9% versus 14.3% respectively; P = 0.019. Patients with grade 3 tumors and negative hormone receptor status had a significantly higher pCR rate. Mean hemoglobin values maintained higher with DA (13.6 versus 12.6 g/dl). E_dd→T_dd→CMF regimen showed more grade 3–4 mucositis, sensory neuropathy, and neurological complaints. Thromboembolic events were more frequent on DA (3% versus 6%; P = 0.055). Conclusion: Dose-dense and -intensified neoadjuvant chemotherapy with E_dd→T_dd→CMF was potentially superior to EC→T in terms of pCR. Primary use of DA did not affect pCR.